PUBLIC WRITERS OF THE GERMAN ENLIGHTENMENT: STUDIES IN LESSING, ABBT AND HERDER by BENJAMIN WALL REDEKOP B.A., Fresno P a c i f i c C o l l e g e , 1985 M.A., The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1990 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department o f H i s t o r y ) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming £0^he required standard UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA S p r i n g 1996 (c)Benjamin W a l l Redekop, 1996 In presenting this degree at the thesis in University of partial fulfilment of of department this thesis for or by his ,or requirements British Columbia, I agree that the freely available for reference and study. I further copying the representatives. an advanced Library shall make it agree that permission for extensive scholarly purposes may be her for It is granted by the understood that head of copying my or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) 11 ABSTRACT European Enlightenment and conceptualization sphere." In t h i s the quarter of third writings Abbt, of three of study c u l t u r e was what has come I analyse the the a to fundamental be called figure of eighteenth-century, locus the "the the emergence "modern p u b l i c public" during roughly primarily p r o m i n e n t German Aufklarer, for as refracted in the G o t t h o l d Ephraim L e s s i n g , Thomas and Johann G o t t f r i e d Herder. Scholarly "public o p i n i o n " has century, with "public" itself Lessing, Abbt calling "the political being problem of of between the the discourses focus of on the the fact constituted This of a German p u b l i c latter that decades earlier and c o n t e s t e d by occurred within the Publikum," Lessing, wider discourses that "public"--as Abbt the of on, sphere the the notion of "public writers" context of and eighteenth- what p a r t i c u l a r German p r o b l e m o f arid H e r d e r a like I am social and well as intellectual political content c a n be p r o f i t a b l y u n d e r s t o o d European Republic of of science, i n view of the Letters By r e a d i n g sociability, i n one way o r a n o t h e r and i n t e l l e c t u a l "problem of both with wider their a n d a more works aesthetics touched upon the scene g e n e r a l l y , to and issue of connect European c u r r e n t s circumlight of politics-a modern and the Publikum" I am a b l e in as German their and l o c a l German socio- concerns. argue that Lessing's d r a m a t i c and l i t e r a r y - c r i t i c a l work sought constitute a German p u b l i c critically distanced from i t s e l f . Publikum," strove inscribe morals. emergence p r o b l e m a t i c a l German Publikum. Enlightenment I to awareness and H e r d e r . writings mediating scribed, tended little was about fragmentation. The social discussion to that was as relationship b u i l d i n g on the between language, sympathetically responsive Abbt, p a i n f u l l y aware of a public And H e r d e r ' s i n t e r v e n t i o n understood both sphere in i n an emerging work o f the idiom of and the to Publikum yet "problem of patriotism German p u b l i c Abbt and L e s s i n g literature the to sphere theorize and can be the i n a complex vision I l l of "organic enlightenment." The d i s s e r t a t i o n employs i n c l u d i n g works by an a r r a y Abbt of and H e r d e r ' s i n t e l l e c t u a l profiled of development. of contemporary theories social-psychology of George H . Mead, inclusion/exclusion, primary European t h i n k e r s light identity, in a variety and engaging gender. the sources, who p l a y e d a r o l e And i t of and secondary theorizes public questions the sphere of in Lessing, developments and the personal and social IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i i T a b l e of Contents iv Acknowledgement vi Preface Chapter 1 vii E n l i g h t e n e d P u b l i c s and the German "Problem of Publikum:" H i s t o r y and Theory 1 Approaching the P u b l i c Sphere P u b l i c s and P o l i t i c s i n England and France Germany and the "Problem of Publikum" P r i n t C u l t u r e and the " P u b l i c W r i t e r " A P r o b l e m a t i c Publikum Notes Chapter 2 U n i t e d and Yet D i v i d e d : L e s s i n g s of an E n l i g h t e n e d German P u b l i c 1 Constitution 58 Widening H o r i z o n s : "Publikum" and "Taste" i n Lessing's Early Writings A Sympathetic Publikum: Lessing's E a r l y Dramaturgy A C r i t i c a l P u b l i c Sphere: L e s s i n g ' s B r i e f e . d i e neueste L i t t e r a t u r b e t r e f f e n d The Hamburaische Dramaturaie Minna von Barnhelm and E m i l i a G a l o t t i Publikum: A C o n t e s t e d Domain Notes Chapter 3 I n s c r i b i n g a P u b l i c Sphere of C i t i z e n s : Thomas Abbt's Response to the "Problem of Publikum" The "Problem of Publikum" i n L i g h t of the A n c i e n t s : The C i c e r o n i a n Model The Legacy of Shaftesbury, H e l v e t i u s and War as a C a t a l y s t f o r P u b l i c S p i r i t : Abbt's Vom Tode f u r das V a t e r l a n d P a t r i o t i s m and the P u b l i c Sphere: the B r i e f e and F.C. von Moser "Merit" and the P u b l i c Sphere Notes Chapter 4 Language, L i t e r a t u r e and Publikum: Quest f o r Organic Enlightenment 2 15 19 26 35 46 60 75 93 102 110 115 121 134 Pope Herder's The Impact of Abbt and L e s s i n g Early Writings Language, L i t e r a t u r e and the P u b l i c Sphere: Herder's S o c i a l - H i s t o r i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e The P u b l i c Sphere R e v i s i t e d : Herder's Second V e r s i o n of the "Publikum" Essay Notes 137 139 148 153 161 177 187 190 198 215 230 238 Chapter 5 From the Publics: R e p u b l i c of L e t t e r s to Modern An Enlightenment Conversation Notes BibliographyFinal Page vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Funding f o r the r e s e a r c h and w r i t i n g o f t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n was p r o v i d e d by a d o c t o r a l f e l l o w s h i p from the S o c i a l S c i e n c e s and Humanities Council Research (award # 752-92-0611), a Izaak Walton K i l l a m Memorial F e l l o w s h i p , and a U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia Graduate F e l l o w s h i p . a s s i s t a n c e p r o v i d e d by these awards. I am g r a t e f u l f o r the I am a l s o g r a t e f u l t o W. A l a n T u l l y and Thomas Salumets, who r e a d and made comments on the d i s s e r t a t i o n which were helpful i n i t s revision. h i s unwavering Very s p e c i a l thanks a r e due t o Edward J . Hundert f o r support and mentorship. much more d i f f i c u l t , Without i t t h e j o u r n e y would have been a r i d and u n p l e a s a n t . And f i n a l l y , warm thanks t o my w i f e F r a n f o r h e r support, both m a t e r i a l and emotional, throughout my s t u d i e s . c o u l d n ' t have done i t without you. I —I vii PREFACE Portions volume 14, Quest of Chapter 4 a r e r e p r i n t e d from H i s t o r y of European Benjamin W. Redekop, "Language, L i t e r a t u r e and Publikum: f o r O r g a n i c Enlightenment," pp. 235-53, 1992, Ideas, Herder's w i t h k i n d p e r m i s s i o n from E l s e v i e r S c i e n c e L t d , The Boulevard, L a n g f o r d Lane, K i d l i n g t o n 0X5 1GB, UK. Enlightened "Problem of The n o t i o n s concepts of i n western a dual character, and the information are as body of of the term i s today. the more--the to be and democratic from i t s of "the middling classes. the lives, "modern p u b l i c In the present to culture lay of the in the and "public"—used in root generally. juridical socio-political processes focus of and and usages of informed to the has its various was for at such day. It has on t h i s 1 is of to take shape emerging this time come dynamic i n t e r a c t i o n to during concepts that it a by the be called between in rise fundamental to of was and c o n t e s t e d least thus a an manifestations, marked not what in socio-political roots, c u l t u r e was of it m a i n t a i n e d enough and humanist order, place present term began It to sphere." I a the accessibility, term i s foundation and c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n study have human reference meanings the yet European Enlightenment emergence of p u b l i c " has recognizable, ancient, a changing range to In denoting invokes openness, h i g h Roman c u l t u r e helping it key broad. lived diverse character of are tend concerns, The word point understanding of of of importance. an a d j e c t i v e , do w i t h terms some k i n d opinions, central a crucial Contemporary understandings service for notion p e r i o d of eighteenth-century, locus is of These collective. of as necessarily term w h i c h has reconstituted of there ideas, that having to gain a better from the citizenship the within "public opinion" discourse. presence by which employed as culture, context—the identifiable us " p u b l i c i t y , " and and p o l i t i c a l When u s e d And y e t One way t o historical is German H i s t o r y and T h e o r y Publikum:" processes policy. fundamental protean social it political discourse and the public," represented citizens, transparency. a Publics a noun o r an a d j e c t i v e - - i s evaluation western 1 i n d i c a t i n g both the collective, either "the Chapter 2 i n t e l l e c t u a l and m a t e r i a l c u l t u r e i n m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y Germany, p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n t o the emerging f i g u r e of "the p u b l i c " - - d a s the w r i t i n g s of t h r e e Thomas Abbt, and formative Lessing, As a work i n the f i e l d i n t e l l e c t u a l h i s t o r y , t h i s s t u d y c o n c e n t r a t e s on t h e i r t e x t s , discourses, Publikum--in p e r s o n a l i t i e s — G o t t h o l d Ephraim Johann G o t t f r i e d Herder. i n t e l l e c t u a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s and the l i k e . Yet paying 1 of ideas, i t w i l l r e a c h beyond the b o u n d a r i e s of the Germanies t o embrace a s p e c t s of the European R e p u b l i c L e t t e r s and E n l i g h t e n m e n t c u l t u r e as a whole, and emerging c o n n e c t i o n s between l i v e d e x p e r i e n c e and and pen delineate some of of the the p r o d u c t i o n s of the mind i n the modern e r a . A p p r o a c h i n g the P u b l i c Sphere Twentieth-century scholars f i r s t approached the t o p i c of the w e s t e r n European p u b l i c sphere most d i r e c t l y v i a the concept of " p u b l i c o p i n i o n . " the e a r l y 192 0s F e r d i n a n d Tonnies p u b l i s h e d In K r i t i k der o f f e n t l i c h e n Meinuncr, a w i d e - r a n g i n g s o c i o l o g i c a l and h i s t o r i c a l t r e a t m e n t of p u b l i c o p i n i o n . Tonnies e s t a b l i s h e d the concept as a s u b j e c t the of a n a l y s i s i n the g r a n d s t y l e of modern s o c i o l o g i c a l t r a d i t i o n , o f f e r i n g v a r i o u s h i s t o r i c a l examples. 2 The work c o n t a i n s and twentieth-centuries, and and many i n s i g h t s on the t o p i c , but o t h e r s i m i l a r works of p o l i t i c a l s o c i o l o g y , nineteenth- d e f i n i t i o n s , theories 3 i t c o n c e n t r a t e s on lacks h i s t o r i c a l the specificity. W i l h e l m Bauer's Die o f f e n t l i c h e Meinunq i n der W e l t a e s c h i c h t e o f f e r s a b r o a d h i s t o r i c a l p e s p e c t i v e on the t o p i c . 4 The like emergence of (193 0) a p e r i o d i c a l p r e s s i n the e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y i s h i g h l i g h t e d as a c o n t r i b u t i o n an expanded p u b l i c o p i n i o n i n Europe a t t h a t t i m e . As would become the w i t h subsequent s t u d e n t s of the t o p i c , the l a t e r - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , and p e r i o d of the F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n moment i n the emergence and p a r t i c u l a r l y , receives e x p l i c i t conceptualization c a t e g o r y of s o c i a l d i s c o u r s e ; emphasis as a case the key of p u b l i c o p i n i o n as W h i l e such emphasis i s u n d o u b t e d l y to justified, a 3 the r e s u l t has been t o make i t appear t h a t t h e r i s e and c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f a German p u b l i c sphere was i n e x t r i c a b l y t i e d t o F r e n c h developments, neglect e a r l i e r the and t o f o r m a t i v e s t a g e s i n t h e p r o c e s s , f o r example t h e emergence o f s o c i a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l c o n s t r u c t o f "the p u b l i c " i t s e l f . Bauer i s vague at b e s t on t h i s q u e s t i o n , assuming t h a t such an e n t i t y has always been more o r l e s s p r e s e n t i n i t s contemporary form. 5 An i m p o r t a n t postwar work which h e l p e d s e t t h e s t a g e f o r f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n was R e i n h a r t K o s e l l e c k ' s C r i t i q u e and C r i s i s : E n l i g h t e n m e n t and t h e P a t h o g e n e s i s o f Modern S o c i e t y (1959). K o s e l l e c k used t h e n o t i o n o f p u b l i c and p r i v a t e spheres t o h e l p e x p l a i n what he saw as a p a t h o l o g i c a l u t o p i a n i s m t h a t grew out o f t h e Enlightenment and l e d t o N a t i o n a l S o c i a l i s m i n Germany. I n K o s e l l e c k ' s view, Enlightenment forms o f s o c i a b i l i t y and d i s c o u r s e took p l a c e o u t s i d e t h e p u b l i c sphere o f a b s o l u t i s t p o l i t i c s , g i v i n g r i s e t o a moral utopianism that ignored the pragmatic r e a l i t i e s a t t e n d i n g a l l p o l i t i c a l forms. A s u b v e r s i v e , p a r a l l e l p u b l i c sphere emerged from t h e p r i v a t e realms o f E n l i g h t e n m e n t d i s c o u r s e , i n c l u d i n g f o r example freemasonry; s e c r e c y h e l p e d t o g i v e b i r t h t o a b o u r g e o i s "moral i n t e r i o r " which would i n time be s e t up over and a g a i n s t t h e s t a t e . A " n o n - p o l i t i c a l p o l i t i c s " was t h e r e s u l t , with a h y p o c r i t i c a l E n l i g h t e n m e n t c r i t i c i s m becoming t h e "spokesman" o f p u b l i c opinion. 6 I n many ways a s e m i n a l work i n t h e a n a l y s i s o f t h e E n l i g h t e n m e n t as a s o c i a l as w e l l as an i n t e l l e c t u a l phenomenon, C r i t i q u e and C r i s i s suffers from an e x c e s s i v e l y a b s t r a c t , t y p o l o g i c a l form o f argument t h a t b r e a k s down under i t s own w e i g h t . 7 Y e t K o s e l l e c k ' s n o t i o n o f a competing r e a l m o f q u a s i - p o l i t i c a l d i s c o u r s e t h a t emerged p a r a l l e l t o t r a d i t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l is a crucial structures i n s i g h t i n t o t h e n a t u r e o f Enlightenment c u l t u r e . The most i m p o r t a n t work t o t h e o r i z e t h i s p a r a l l e l r e a l m was j i i r g e n Habermas's s e m i n a l The S t r u c t u r a l T r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f t h e P u b l i c Sphere: An I n q u i r y I n t o a C a t e g o r y o f B o u r g e o i s S o c i e t y (1962, 1989). the Habermas r i s e o f what i n t r a n s l a t i o n he c a l l s a "bourgeois p u b l i c sphere" (btirgerliche Offentlichkeit) i n e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Europe, t h e term charts 4 "bourgeois" s i g n i f y i n g an educated s t r a t a of j u r i s t s , pastors, o f f i c e r s , professors and s c h b l a r s , administrators, as w e l l as a r i s i n g c l a s s o f merchants, bankers, e n t r e p r e n e u r s and m a n u f a c t u r e r s . doctors, capitalist Habermas p r o v i d e s a genealogy o f the i d e a o f the "the p u b l i c , " t r a c i n g i t from c o n n o t i n g the f e u d a l and c o u r t l y rulers, t o the a b s t r a c t bureaucratic "representative publicness" c o u n t e r p a r t o f an i n c r e a s i n g l y d e p e r s o n a l i z e d and s t a t e apparatus, t o a "bourgeois p u b l i c that a b s t r a c t i o n of a b s o l u t i s t and i n the p r o c e s s a p p r o p r i a t e d sphere" t h a t state authority concretized for itself. T h i s b o u r g e o i s p u b l i c sphere stood, by the end o f the e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y , between the s t a t e and the " p r i v a t e " realm o f a growing society. commercial/civil As Habermas puts i t : The b o u r g e o i s p u b l i c sphere may be c o n c e i v e d above a l l as the sphere o f p r i v a t e p e o p l e come t o g e t h e r as a p u b l i c ; they soon c l a i m e d the p u b l i c sphere r e g u l a t e d from above a g a i n s t t h e p u b l i c a u t h o r i t i e s themselves, t o engage them i n a debate over the g e n e r a l r u l e s g o v e r n i n g r e l a t i o n s i n the b a s i c a l l y p r i v a t i z e d but p u b l i c l y r e l e v a n t sphere o f commodity exchange and s o c i a l l a b o u r . And a c c o r d i n g t o Habermas, "The p u b l i c sphere i n the p o l i t i c a l e v o l v e d from t h e p u b l i c realm sphere i n the w o r l d o f l e t t e r s , " w h i l e the l a t t e r w o r l d i t s e l f was coming t o be s o c i a l i z e d i n secondary s o c i e t i e s l i k e houses, r e a d i n g c l u b s , schaften). and i n Germany language s o c i e t i e s article, during coffee (Sprachgesell- " C r i t i c a l r e a s o n i n g " made i t s way i n t o t h e d a i l y p r e s s , v i a the learned 8 initially the f i r s t h a l f o f the c e n t u r y , as an i n t e r e s t e d r e a d i n g p u b l i c began t o emerge. The p r i n t e d word and t h e p e r i o d i c a l p r e s s were thus the c r u c i a l media f o s t e r i n g a b o u r g e o i s p u b l i c sphere, h e l p i n g to give r i s e to "intimate mutual r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p r i v a t i z e d i n d i v i d u a l s who were p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y 'human,' i n self-knowledge, and i n empathy." i n t e r e s t e d i n what was Thus one a s p e c t o f Habermas's argument i s t h a t a simultaneous, mutual a r t i c u l a t i o n o f (bourgeois) p u b l i c and private spheres was t a k i n g place. 9 A l t h o u g h t h e B r i t i s h p r e s s was e s t a b l i s h e d by t h e 1730s as an organ o f public p o l i t i c a l political absolutist careers debate, i n France i t was n o t u n t i l the 1770s and the o f Turgot, Malesherbes and Necker t h a t a "breach" i n the system was opened t h a t a l l o w e d f o r a p u b l i c sphere i n the p o l i t i c a l 5 realm. The R e v o l u t i o n r e p r e s e n t e d institution Various a c r i t i c a l public circumstances halting, to sphere of occurred f i r s t century. analysis of At the third quarter of works o f of the latter decades the institutional dimension. looking at the adducing Herder, basic its of quarter of contours state has private 1 2 and p u b l i c to get spheres of away or discourses, mutually exclusive life on form of p u b l i c i t y developed the private sphere." "the followed the by end of to an culture public" at have a "the of is in revision based theoretical Germany, Lessing, Abbt, and and within--and precisely because i n other mediates Habermas's articulation arguing assumes These were predicated words, was two not on s e c r e c y it his fruitful Europe, thinking that private." c e n t u r y was, of mutual in eighteenth-century other writer. counts, tremendously the by public"--das extension She e m p h a s i z e s on these notions i n d i v i d u a l s which been the "political" o n a number o f private are existing counter of works "when m o n a r c h y was The e i g h t e e n t h public a particularly "political" of one p u b l i c a n d t h e new Thus from Habermas's impression to from r i g i d l y o p p o s i t i o n a l categories, a n d more primarily Enlightenment be s o c i e t y has An important b e e n made b y Dena Goodman. "We n e e d spheres and c i v i l / e c o n o m i c scholars. of figure i n the sphere public devoted eighteenth-century whom w o u l d be d e s c r i b e d a s an emergent slower 1790s. arise i n order to study w i l l model subsequent that structures open to of is reflect social/intellectual third matters. and Germany t o w a r d s The f i r s t A l t h o u g h Habermas's work i s thesis of emerging the a bourgeois be d i r e c t e d e x p l i c i t l y present socio-political none between the for the r o u g h l y the Publikum--in must or c o n s t i t u t i o n a l One a i m o f 1 1 to eighteenth-century. discourse of impressions aspects a n d Germans o n l y b e g a n that emergence for 1 0 misleading separable, assumption o n l y by the German d e v e l o p m e n t s neatly of in political German t r a n s i t i o n century, l i t e r a r y and p o l i t i c a l occasion early eighteenth-century, Kant and H e g e l . two p o t e n t i a l l y work: the i n England i n the The d i s c u s s i o n least brilliant the unstable debate c o n s p i r e d t o make t h e Habermas's p e r i o d i z a t i o n , France d u r i n g the the rapid, w i t h a German p u b l i c o p i n i o n e m e r g i n g according sphere of the and a within-- "the 6 historical moment articulation, i n which p u b l i c and p r i v a t e such that Goodman h e r e public forms sphere of individual is autonomous, the of The a new s o r t of order social-psychology conceptual process of social individual of purchase. a result of responses to varying social the of of were, in to that process who w e r e helping least constituted out to as a selves part give this of "arises i n the a whole "self" an . these notions in the given and that c o - d e t e r m i n e d by the of to the shape Biirgertum) develops Mead p o s i t e d 1 4 concert. sphere--informed human s e l f is, the private, i n which those public that of increasingly gebildete the a modern model accompanied by at (das 1 , 1 3 Aufklarer G e o r g e H e r b e r t Mead h e l p s and a c t i v i t y , are of structure public construction, selves it of a n d "human" German s i t u a t i o n , inclusive burghers process." individual as Abbt and Herder, i n d i v i d u a l s within that intersubjective, intimate The s p h e r e s appearance Mead a r g u e d t h a t experience of The l o n g i n g and c o n c e r n t o Lessing, of a emerged, " s e l v e s " was relations such, is and approaches his social, as flexible relatively (Stand) process emergence result development. "at home." kind of the of social-intellectual s e n s e be i n the development I n Germany t h e individuals like greater As concerns r a t i o n a l or a f f e c t i v e of that public sociability under study. emerging educated other the structure--some works and the and s o c i a l and of of in a certain of Habermas's t h e s i s the were c a n . . . b e made b e t w e e n t h e m . important f o r understanding the sense (Enlighteners) kind individual selfhood make b e t t e r could augments distinction went h a n d - i n - h a n d w i t h of insight promise stable privatized personality, interaction This no spheres to is a individual. a number o f p a r t i c u l a r situations; The s t r u c t u r e o f t h e c o m p l e t e s e l f i s . . . a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e complete s o c i a l process. The o r g a n i z a t i o n and u n i f i c a t i o n o f a s o c i a l group i s i d e n t i c a l w i t h the o r g a n i z a t i o n and u n i f i c a t i o n of any one o f t h e s e l v e s a r i s i n g w i t h i n t h e s o c i a l p r o c e s s i n w h i c h that group i s engaged. 1 5 Mead d e s c r i b e s conscious other of a process "themselves," of of an i n d i v i d u a l s and e v e n t u a l l y represented to the individual i n d i v i d u a t i o n i n w h i c h human b e i n g s "I," through a process social self as groups the as of a whole, "generalized interaction the other." latter become with being Consciousness 7 (and the c o n s t r u c t i o n ) of o n e s e l f occurs i n the p r o c e s s of t a k i n g the p o s i t i o n of the "other" towards o n e s e l f . process Language p l a y s a fundamental r o l e i n t h i s s i n c e i t i s the p r i m a r y medium by which the symbols t h a t c o n c r e t i z e t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p , which g i v e the i n d i v i d u a l a "mind," are communicated. is the common c u r r e n c y of " s e l f " and "other," the communal, p u b l i c medium through which i n d i v i d u a l s come to s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s and One in e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y moral and s o c i a l d i s c o u r s e . of Mead-like Sentiments (1759, 1790). wrought account of human moral sentiments i n d i v i d u a l and s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r i n a way work, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n Smith's account and motives, "We w i t h Mead's i d e a s i s Adam Smith's Smith's h i g h l y r e f l e x i v e and The finely- t r a c e s the i n t e r p l a y between t h a t suggests p a r a l l e l s to Mead's of the " i m p a r t i a l s p e c t a t o r , " who much l i k e Mead's " g e n e r a l i z e d o t h e r . " sentiments 1 6 Probably the b e s t example i n the e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Theory of Moral our own -definition. does not need to look v e r y hard to f i n d resonances s o c i a l psychology It looks Smith argues t h a t i n o r d e r to e v a l u a t e endeavour to examine our own conduct imagine any o t h e r f a i r and i m p a r t i a l s p e c t a t o r would examine i t . " as we By t a k i n g the p o s i t i o n of " s o c i e t y , " the i n d i v i d u a l i s p r o v i d e d w i t h a " m i r r o r " w i t h which "he first views the p r o p r i e t y and beauty and d e f o r m i t y of h i s own language of morals, mind. 1,17 i m p r o p r i e t y of h i s own Although social " s e l f " and the a r t i c u l a t i o n of individual p r i v a t e p e r s o n a l i t y i n the i n t e r s u b j e c t i v e arena of p u b l i c l i f e . symbolic i n t e r a c t i o n i s m may be u s e f u l f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g developments not l e a s t because major Enlightenment similar enterprises. M a t e r i a l and to eighteenth-century f i g u r e s were engaged i n i n t e l l e c t u a l c o n d i t i o n s were emerging t h a t h e l p e d g i v e r i s e The growth of commerce, f o r example, brought w i t h forms of s o c i a b i l i t y and m o r a l - p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e f l e c t i o n . b r o a d l y c h a r a c t e r i z e the s u b s t r a t e of many new s o c i a b i l i t y i n terms of the emergence of " c i v i l p r i v a t e sphere Thus Mead's 1 8 t h i s s o r t of r e f l e c t i o n . i t new the i t i s couched i n the Smith's t r e a t i s e i s v e r y much about the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the i n d i v i d u a l passions, 1 9 One can forms of e n l i g h t e n e d s o c i e t y , " an essentially of s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s based on an emerging market economy but 8 inhabited by m i d d l i n g groups and i n t e l l e c t u a l s , elite groups. emerging state. the it as well Whatever area of social Although direct eighteenth-century, is useful Europe. on commerce, Habermas's traced of and o n l y interested new s c i e n c e the has to i n the illuminating was activity on t h e at rise a social bring of of By "behaving surface...[might "the scientific built forms the indubitable, such a r t i c l e s apart structures. autonomous formed. a i r " or o n common p r o b l e m s functioned as the In order. about the of of from e x i s t i n g the social process of public as to at the a scientific movement, i n England, created] in and culture the within and a n d more "scientific process and enclaves recreational." served potentially to a g e n t s were b e i n g or other type of a community of that institutional new p u b l i c s social held and a community for gaining assent explored, public W h e t h e r one and focus of emerging of fundamental u n l i m i t e d scope, ecclesiastical new p r o c e d u r e s unite be 2 2 production f o r new k i n d s facts." down radical simultaneous locus in connections Whether C a r t e s i a n o r Newtonian, as that, Margaret Jacob were c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i n the in discourse draw life. sociability C a r t e s i a n "plenum" t o T h e M a s o n i c l o d g e s w e r e one begun only private role certain faith later sphere." Continent, [was the figured heavily high Enlightenment i n ways t h a t enquiry could serve on agreement s p r i n g of thinkers and s o c i a l as England and the T h e new s c i e n c e p l a y e d a c r u c i a l knowledge have an eighteenth-century developments scientistic emerging from occur u n t i l socio-economic and r e l i g i o u s appear] culture distinct presence public culture realm of s o c i e t y was a broad Enlightenment "bourgeois which, on the of and i t s 2 1 various and i n c o n s e q u e n t i a l l y between Newtonianism, Masonic lodges thought. of and t h i s contours root in scientific been working to the the of modes o f civil term d i d not bureaucrats ranks of relatively occasionally r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . . . a new v e r s i o n natural educated drawn from t h e human c o n s t i t u t i o n , and p o l i t i c s , relationship recently political exact reflection the and s e v e n t e e n t h - c e n t u r y earth individuals and economic sociability, Scholars has its "discovery" account between the as to f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g b r o a d changes underway i n Its 2 0 r a n g i n g from merchants and were expression of interacting being this general 9 scientific movement societies were The venue it another. this fruitfully thought, of ideas of Abbt mediators sought to constitute way t h a t discussion the years movement ago. between i t of the dispersed, the epochal a decade of isolation." forms a print trade, of that as primarily might see it appearing, as the were t r a n s m u t e d people news-sheets and while to gazettes." letters by i t s nature own t e r m s . it also Besides one readers pointing the culture. former and Herder had of Rome a n d A t h e n s in the only midst of it more one. coffee became and a s h a r p e r houses, models of easier to division "The n a t u r e in public a of man as after squares to 2 5 p r i n t on t h e opened fact; classical from o r a t o r s in is i m p o s e d a new k i n d encouraged. conform to It than a h e a r i n g still units, they inflected places--bookshops, from t h i s was are not and a t o m i s t i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n i n p r i n c i p l e more e g a l i t a r i a n squares, orators men o f discrete tribunes Paradoxically, "What t h e which them. and p u b l i c like "public," German Publikum, which Abbt and p u b l i c a f f a i r s likely wider to movement Figures notions flowed movement both a sociability. and so a expressed "literariness consequences as Malesherbes, less author's it ways p e c u l i a r new communal g a t h e r i n g important expression, I n 1775 assembled, an Cassirer studied sociability o r more b e f o r e : b e i n g made up o f life and was culture. a n i m a l was public Letters in natural philosophy a political in Ernst public in various A r e a d i n g p u b l i c was Important between p r i v a t e of academies intellectual more m o d e s t a l s o more i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c fact society and the new a people and r e a d i n g rooms—were of that rational, developments F r e n c h book midst but the editors achieved B u t he v i e w e d 2 4 and c o n t e s t dispersed." regard European Republic of form of new c u l t u r e was developing Despite the Enlightenment and f o r m a t i o n of This people scientific a n d H e r d e r p a r t i c i p a t e d i n and drew upon t h i s as director while w h e r e a s a more n u a n c e d p e r s p e c t i v e acting were i n of and an exemplary Lessing, begun the sixty society, 2 3 scientific strata over of this civil learned culture i n which the was into to to the hand r e p r e s e n t e d than that intimate of a form of face-to-face instruction on mutual a r t i c u l a t i o n of contact the private 10 individuality ties into l a r g e r networks. vicarious c o u l d be older, and p u b l i c i t y , addressed more vehicle The the localized Bayle s been of eve its of the "miniature tolerance and c o n t i n u i n g of course of earliest to and s u p e r s t i t i o n . of public s a l o n s must Republic of of readers domain." Lespinasse, which Enlightenment fostered the i n France u n t i l the discourse a of an ecumenical ideas. who came of Republic, ethos Out o f of all from d i v e r s e the printing this strata disavow press 2S central "serious" figures like Du D e f f a n d w e r e i n was to somewhat this loci of the (French) T r a d i t i o n a l l y m a r g i n a l i z e d as of the has frontiers beginning, have forces." s e e n as from the to European analysis, salons and Marie seems final Letters. the seventeenth- In the idees If 2 7 heterodox letters was from Rotterdam, own u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d t o be was elusive. their for at p r i n t media trust also diversion of p r o v i d e r of from the men o f looking "A m a r g i n f o r u n c e r t a i n t y remained, to with medium, than P a r i s , It conducive and urged people centres the came or designates careerist mid-eighteenth-century de Lettres headquarters that when and r a t h e r and p u b l i s h i n g houses were m i c r o - c e n t r e s "a new k i n d feminized expansion both r e a l Nevertheless, houses" as publics more t h a n a n y o t h e r newspaper mysterious, local competing are valuable from the an e n t i t y service Invisible of life. h a v i n g been the deliberately international Enlightenment resulted loosened community began notions public transposition being But Amsterdam, r a t h e r on r e a l maps. shops Parisian of R e p u b l i o u e des French Revolution. a new c l a s s censorship Julie to and an atmosphere society of the growing. R e p u b l i c had changed d u r i n g the centre, Print created la acknowledged often forms These Letters, when one p i n p o i n t s elusive, e v e n t s was p r i n t e d word, forum t h a t de suggests s o l i d a r i t y was new 2 6 forms French. 'Republic' emerged the to the left this the expanding from L a t i n newspapers, of there new as loyalties. Nouvelles 1 century be for widest language Communal from a f a r , European Republic of Pierre paradox participation in distant German d e v e l o p m e n t s ; the this fostered. project of Enlightenment, Marie-Therese fact Philosophes frivolous, Geoffrin, important venues adopted the in salons as 11 focal points f o r t h e i r Republic "governors" p r o v i d e d of L e t t e r s , not the r e p u b l i c w i t h a b a s i s f o r Whatever i t s l o c a t i o n , t h i s new of Europeans. intellect, p r e s s was Yet i n d i v i d u a l s could, f i n d t h e i r way the f i r s t l e a s t because t h e i r p u b l i c d i d not 29 i n c l u d e the v a s t through sheer f o r c e of w i l l i n t o l i t e r a t e p r i n t c u l t u r e : "The g r e a t age t r i b u n e of the p e o p l e who order. of the a u t o d i d a c t - - a n d of the type of educated, l e t t e r e d i n d i v i d u a l began to come to the above and age and and self-appointed This 3 0 sought to u n i t e the educated w o r l d as w e l l as the acknowledged q u a l i t i e s of s c i e n t i f i c In a d d i t i o n to B a y l e ' s Nouvelles de l a Republioue des Lettres century example of t h i s k i n d of Perhaps the most well-known example of the new c r i t i c a l approach to a l l manner of t o p i c s was et c r i t i q u e urbane, Bayle's critique. (1688-89) i s discourse. scientific- f o r the European There B a y l e d i s c u s s e d a wide range of p r i m a r i l y r e l i g i o u s l i t e r a r y - p h i l o s o p h i c a l t o p i c s i n an open, c r i t i c a l and r e s u l t e d i n good d e a l of c o n t r o v e r s y . i n a l a r g e r sense he was ecumenical s p i r i t Although Bayle's work t y p i c a l l y science "superstition"--which d i s t i n c t l y C a t h o l i c o v e r t o n e s — a n d c e r t a i n c o l d , hard, i n d u b i t a b l e The result, i n a s o c i o l o g i c a l sense, was a c o n t r i b u t i o n to the That L e s s i n g and Abbt were a v i d readers study. as facts. formation emerging p u b l i c arena f o r r a t i o n a l n e g o t i a t i o n of human u n d e r s t a n d i n g s of an and of B a y l e i s t h e r e f o r e of 32 S c h o l a r s have r e c e n t l y begun to q u e s t i o n whether such new implies. lacked f o r Bayle had open, harmonius and that ( f o r B a y l e i t s C a r t e s i a n wing), he aimed a t d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between t h i n g s l i k e some s i g n i f i c a n c e to t h i s and opening a f i e l d of d i s c o u r s e p r e m i s e d more or l e s s on the c e r t a i n t i e s of the new concerns. 3 1 Dictionnaire historiaue (1697-1702), w i d e l y viewed as a f o u n d a t i o n - t e x t Enlightenment. and (1684), C h r i s t i a n Thomasius's Freimiithiqen...Gedanken oder Monataesprache an important l a t e - s e v e n t e e n t h new f o r e i n Europe i n beyond the b o r d e r s of e s t a t e and n a t i o n around urbane i d e a l s modes of l i v i n g , focus, majority of the hand- c o u l d address a v a s t p u b l i c from a f a r . " the p e r i o d a f t e r the T h i r t y Years War, female r a t i o n a l as Habermas, and indeed A c o n f l i c t model of the p u b l i c sphere has the arenas were as foregoing begun to discussion, replace 12 Habermas's bourgeois "nostalgic" public vision 3 3 sphere; the argued, i n v o l v e d a good d e a l groups" like years ago, domain." women. i n reference According struggle to competing Karl 34 model competition in the of the struggle form o f groups, the interpretation i n operations "who want discussion, various different ideas chapter what also eighteenth-century, desire world." not sites groups to interests at work. quest for greater serve a wide range This were the interpretation only arenas of intense or about that 3 6 of being' for of absolute recognition the world sociability by into the and even Individuals c o u l d have nature as of i n a formative of should not we w i l l the the o r h a r m o n y was as well see emerging like fact, often as the p e r i o d s u c h as reference obscure particular interests and controversy should be, and p o i n t s i n c l u s i o n and u n i t y of it of historical, and r e f i g u r a t i o n a c c o r d i n g to point "the 3 5 p u b l i c was terms contestation and the and s t r a t a . one w o u l d e x p e c t emerging Every of power discussion interpretation if make t h e i r the the 'public sixty intellectual "public" worldview; Heidegger)." i n German d i s c u s s i o n s Indeed, open but the is over intellectual knowledge--"even were thus social about to of Enlightened publics of for phenomenologist sociological exclusion dominant in it "subaltern of the always of sort worldview particular w o u l d be meaning of this genteel sphere, and e x c l u s i o n make t h e i r embedded Publikum. contestation "the and a modern p u b l i c Mannheim p r o p o s e d to truth"--is this of of competing p a r t i e s ideological, in emergence inclusive Mannheim, (an e x p r e s s i o n "rational" a relatively to partners public of more "the the later German the public" groups however, present, quite and that and the could generally-shared concerns. Contemporary t h e o r i s t s within the concept a more r e l a x e d , of "the collectivities. diversity has resonance t r e n d was 3 7 in towards there is an u n r e s o l v e d p u b l i c " between a u n i t a r y , p l u r a l i s t i c public-ness different general maintain that This the idea of which i s eighteenth-century; overcoming the authoritative a shared a tension isolation feature between u n i t y in tension the born of of and many and Germanies the body, the diversity of 13 German l i f e w i t h a more c o h e r e n t , u n i f i e d and e n l i g h t e n e d c e r t a i n questions accommodated? J u s t where was "the p u b l i c " ? Should i t c o n s i s t o f one i t a l l o w a number o f v o i c e s t o be heard? have m a i n t a i n e d t h a t gender s e r v e d as a f o r m a t i v e eighteenth-century Revolution. category i n p u b l i c d i s c u s s i o n , and p a r t i c u l a r l y t h a t o f t h e F r e n c h L o o k i n g a t t h e r e v i v e d c l a s s i c a l r e p u b l i c a n d i s c o u r s e o f Rousseau t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s , i t i s argued t h a t t h e e x c l u s i o n o f women from t h e b o u r g e o i s p u b l i c was c e n t r a l t o i t s i n c a r n a t i o n . The modern p u b l i c sphere, i n o t h e r words, i s seen t o be " e s s e n t i a l l y , n o t j u s t c o n t i n g e n t l y , ist." masculin- I n f l u e n t i a l contemporary f e m i n i s t arguments about t h e modern p u b l i c 3 8 sphere have been b u i l t on t h i s v i e w , 39 y e t i t has r e c e i v e d some c r i t i c i s m : the m a s c u l i n i s t republican discourse was Who t o be i n c l u d e d o r e x c l u d e d , and what were i t s l i m i t s ? Feminists and Yet a r e w o r t h a s k i n g : How were competing v o i c e s t o be a u t h o r i t a t i v e voice or should was p u b l i c sphere. b u t one competing c o n c e p t i o n f a s t e n e d upon by such a u t h o r s o f t h e s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l arena imagined as an a l t e r n a t i v e t o t h e O l d Regime. It searching 40 i s t h e r e f o r e p r o b a b l y premature t o r e i f y any one c a t e g o r y o f e x c l u s i o n o r c o n t e s t a t i o n as b e i n g of t h e modern p u b l i c sphere. problematic; the c e n t r a l i s s u e a t s t a k e i n t h e emergence Not o n l y i s i t premature, i t i s d e e p l y t h e tendency t o d i v i d e p u b l i c and p r i v a t e spheres a l o n g t h e l i n e s of gender may be t o o much o f a r e p e t i t i o n o f i d e o l o g i c a l c l a i m s , p u t f o r w a r d by n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y w r i t e r s p a r t i c u l a r l y , t o be much use as a c a t e g o r y o f h i s t o r i c a l enquiry. I t may a l s o be t h a t c r e a t i n g a b i n a r y 41 opposition between a p u b l i c sphere which e x l u d e d women, and a p r i v a t e , domestic sphere w h i c h t h e y i n h a b i t e d , obscures t h e f a c t t h a t " a t l e a s t i n some sense, women had extensive p u b l i c l i v e s i n the eighteenth-century and t h a t language was a v a i l a b l e t o d i s c u s s and sometimes even l e g i t i m a t e t h i s If fact." 4 2 i t i s c l e a r t h a t women were e x c l u d e d i n i m p o r t a n t ways from t h e b o u r g e o i s p u b l i c sphere, and p a r t i c u l a r l y i t s n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y incarnation, i t i s an o v e r s t a t e m e n t t o s a y t h a t t h e i r e x c l u s i o n was s i n g u l a r l y c o n s t i t u t i v e of t h a t a r e n a . W h i l e i t was h a r d l y t h i n k a b l e i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y that 14 women s h o u l d be was not considered unthinkable Among t h e authors inclusion of relevant women w e r e to explicitly cited all of be the as This the work, to was say, work i n concerted, however, that sphere, or and r e s t r i c t i o n " of the gender served that to a bourgeois of differing emergence. permutations publics" they leave in "the about category, multiple publics and to "the it processes the s h o u l d be a s s u m e d and e n v i s i o n e d to sphere" that they exclude d i d not for obscures Thus the ways; are female women. persist only 4 3 it the in rise existence its possible counter- groups, and although singular was that giving "subaltern in that Volk-Publikum implicated 4 4 as and w i t t y to such a sphere in different and modern, a number o f space." public." towards taking place; that it "simultaneous subordinated social public "the times strong of men, suggest primary basis realize expand d i s c u r s i v e bourgeois at hierarchies and c o n c e p t i o n s f r o m among v a r i o u s "help status p u b l i c " open to effort eighteenth-century concerns was formation of conscious as of to and H e r d e r ' s women w e r e n o t the and competing v i e w s , talk conceptual sphere to c a n emerge to exclusion circumstances, can themselves useful of public Better while Lessing's the that enfranchisement impulse evidence arena, public actors. than the status in public discourse little from t h i s more a t emerging p u b l i c notion general German s o c i e t y apriori in c o n s i d e r e d members the There i s equal A b b t ' s p u b l i c - s p i r i t e d women, there not of actors c o u l d be in this relevant publics is too public. excluded that "enlightened" within studied characters, suggest they broader s t r a t a members dramatic that socio-political it as c o u l d be not a that may be a broad composed unitary phenomenon. If the potential shaping two conflict of sides emergence these of the modern p u b l i c and c o n t e s t a t i o n , s p h e r e s was also part same c o i n . But n e v e r t h e l e s s of "the public" present sphere of contestation; "the i n order public marked by at a c e r t a i n amount s p h e r e s was notion audience of of the for process. there there in front to of constituting These had to exist i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of and an open exchange w i t h i n o r of are be at any being" that least in a least and sense the meaningful assumes b o t h audience. an And the 15 moment o f c o n s t i t u t i o n - - t h e formation or e n v i s i o n i n g of a p u b l i c — t h e o r e t - i c a l l y precedes t h a t o f any c o n t e s t a t i o n w i t h i n o r b e f o r e t h i s problem, i n r e f e r e n c e difficult the stage. t o the German t h e a t r e , f o r t h e stage t o form a p u b l i c b e f o r e it. Schiller stated as a paradox: " I t i s a p u b l i c has been formed f o r 1,45 For Aufklarer (enlighteners) l i k e Lessing, Abbt and Herder, the c o n s t i t u t i o n o f a r e l a t i v e l y coherent German p u b l i c , out o f the d i v e r s i t y o f life i n t h e Germanies, was o f c e n t r a l importance. To r e t u r n t o the t e r m i n o l o g y o f Mead, they began t o seek t o u n i t e v a r i o u s i n d i v i d u a l s and groups a c r o s s the f e u d a l spectrum i n t o a h i g h e r l e v e l of s o c i a l - i n t e l l e c t u a l organization, one which i n a c e r t a i n sense answered t o the r i c h n e s s and b r e a d t h o f t h e i r own " s e l v e s , " and more c o n c r e t e l y , t h e i r concerns and endeavours. 46 promised t o be a forum f o r T h i s p r o c e s s might b e s t be thought o f i n terms o f t h e "shaping" o f a p u b l i c sphere, w i t h i t s c o n n o t a t i o n s o f b o t h b u i l d i n g something up which was i m p e r f e c t l y there, i d e n t i f i a b l e character. and g i v i n g t h a t e n t i t y an What w i l l be o f i n t e r e s t i s not o n l y t h i s p r o c e s s o f s h a p i n g t h a t was g o i n g on, and the v i s i o n s o f Publikum but which were p a r t o f i t , how i t i n t u r n i n f l e c t e d the form and content o f e n l i g h t e n e d discourse, which was c l e a r l y much more than a movement o f i d e a s . P u b l i c s and P o l i t i c s i n England and France The n o t i o n o f the r i s e o f a modern p u b l i c sphere has e n a b l e d h i s t o r i a n s of England and France t o broaden the study o f p o l i t i c s neglected to include previously developments, and t o b e t t e r understand emergent forms o f s o c i a l and cultural activity. English reading Ian Watt l o c a t e d "the r i s e o f the n o v e l " p u b l i c i n the e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y , c l a s s p r e s e r v e t h a t had been n u r t u r e d (1709) and S p e c t a t o r its disposal. i n an emerging a l a r g e l y m i d d l e - t o upper- on "moral w e e k l i e s " l i k e the T a t l e r (1711), and had an i n c r e a s i n g amount o f l e i s u r e time a t T h i s type o f p e r i o d i c a l , which T.H. Green famously c a l l e d "the 16 f i r s t and b e s t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t h a t s p e c i a l s t y l e of l i t e r a t u r e - - t h e o n l y r e a l l y p o p u l a r l i t e r a t u r e of our time--which c o n s i s t s i n t a l k i n g t o the p u b l i c about i t s e l f , 1,47 was w i d e l y c o p i e d i n Germany and s i m i l a r l y a i d e d the r i s e of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , i f l i m i t e d , reading p u b l i c there. The T h i r d E a r l of S h a f t e s b u r y e x e r c i s e d a p r o f o u n d i n f l u e n c e on German t h i n k i n g about t h i s emerging p u b l i c , as we s h a l l see, concerned as he was "to c r e a t e a new and g e n t l e m a n l y c u l t u r e of c r i t i c i s m " based on emerging n o t i o n s and "politeness." The of public sociability 4 8 growth of a r e a d i n g p u b l i c and i n c r e a s e d r e f l e c t i o n on the mechanisms of s o c i a b i l i t y and p u b l i c l i f e were i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e s of expanding p o l i t i c a l c u l t u r e i n England. J.H. coherence of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s m i d d l e - c l a s s Plumb's work on the p u b l i c " has an "gradual furthered understanding of "the c u l t u r a l changes which enabled something l i k e a f r e e p o l i t i c a l l i f e t a k e shape i n the c o u r s e of the e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y . " p a r t has 49 E.P. s t i m u l a t e d r e f l e c t i o n on the p o l i t i c a l r e l e v a n c e to Thompson f o r h i s of p o p u l a r c u l t u r e and on the p u b l i c sphere "as a s t r u c t u r e d s e t t i n g i n w h i c h c e r t a i n forms of c u l t u r a l and i d e o l o g i c a l c o n t e s t a t i o n may take p l a c e r a t h e r than as the autonomous and c l a s s - s p e c i f i c achievement of the b o u r g e o i s c i t i z e n r y . " Others have demonstrated t h a t the n o t i o n of " p u b l i c o p i n i o n " was not a F r e n c h import, as has 5 0 i n England f r e q u e n t l y been supposed, but r a t h e r grew out of an E n g l i s h s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l c u l t u r e which had s p i r i t " as a c e n t r a l f i g u r e i n p u b l i c d i s c o u r s e . long recognized "public But a l t h o u g h terms l i k e "the o p i n i o n of the p u b l i c " had p o l i t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n b e f o r e m i d - c e n t u r y i n England, the i d e a of a p u b l i c as "a c o n s t a n t u n t i l around 1780, when " p u b l i c o p i n i o n " or "-sentiment" began t o be to play a r o l e i n e l e c t i o n s . l i b e r t i e s , " was The p r e s s , "the p a l l a d i u m of a l l o t h e r emerge perceived English a c e n t r a l f a c t o r i n t h i s "process of s e l f - r e c o g n i t i o n i n eighteenth-century and p o l i t i c a l a c t o r " d i d not political thought." i t s freedom i n the 1760s and 51 1770s was A r e v i t a l i z e d debate on the p r e s s t i e d to the emergence and d e f i n i t i o n of a p o p u l a r p o l i t i c a l c u l t u r e ; a changing p o l i t i c a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e and the growing i n f l u e n c e of the p r e s s gave r i s e t o o f t e n c o n t r o v e r s i a l 17 debates on i t s political proper role culture an e n l i g h t e n e d , the links, after in English'society. This 5 2 growth of mid-century i n England c o i n c i d e d with proto-political r a t h e r more t e n u o u s " p u b l i c " i n Germany, there, the and h e l p s between s o c i o - c u l t u r a l a public stirrings to conceive of of and p o l i t i c a l processes. T h e movement political one has Enlightenment literate France from a r a t i o n a l - l i t e r a r y p u b l i c sphere become and R e v o l u t i o n . "private" culture f o r new forms style of power and a u t h o r i t y cast of knowledge born of it was contradiction" light, that to a c i r c u m s c r i b e d sense, a range of other scientific Keith the into approaches discourse to in "discursive conditions these rise an "public." of of (1990) topics, emergence of with each other, were blended together as a notion of basic quasi-public, they been the too extended as of opposed to "rational public and was is t r e n d away i n the is rise meaning, His from an Baker of within the to species 5 4 Inventing Marxist of la
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Public writers of the German Enlightenment: studies in Lessing, Abbt and Herder Redekop, Benjamin Wall 1996
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Title | Public writers of the German Enlightenment: studies in Lessing, Abbt and Herder |
Creator |
Redekop, Benjamin Wall |
Date Issued | 1996 |
Description | European Enlightenment culture was a fundamental locus for the emergence and conceptualization of what has come to be called the "modern public sphere." In this study I analyse the figure of "the public" during roughly the third quarter of the eighteenth-century, primarily as refracted in the writings of three prominent German Aufklarer, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Thomas Abbt, and Johann Gottfried Herder. Scholarly discussion about the emergence of a German public sphere and "public opinion" has tended to focus on the latter decades of the eighteenth- century, with little awareness of the fact that earlier on, the notion of a "public" itself was being constituted and contested by "public writers" like Lessing, Abbt and Herder. This occurred within the context of what I am calling "the problem of Publikum," the particular German problem of social and political fragmentation. The writings of Lessing, Abbt arid Herder can be profitably understood as mediating between the wider European Republic of Letters and a more circumscribed, problematical German Publikum. By reading their works in light of Enlightenment discourses of science, sociability, aesthetics and politics-discourses that in one way or another touched upon the issue of a modern "public"--as well as in view of the "problem of Publikum" and the German social and intellectual scene generally, I am able to connect their intellectual content both with wider European currents and local German socio-political concerns. I argue that Lessing's dramatic and literary-critical work sought to constitute a German public that was both sympathetically responsive yet critically distanced from itself. Abbt, painfully aware of the "problem of Publikum," strove to inscribe a public sphere in the idiom of patriotism and morals. And Herder's intervention in an emerging German public sphere can be understood as building on the work of Abbt and Lessing to theorize the relationship between language, literature and the Publikum in a complex vision of "organic enlightenment." The dissertation employs a variety of primary and secondary sources, including works by an array of European thinkers who played a role in Lessing, Abbt and Herder's intellectual development. And it theorizes the developments profiled in light of contemporary theories of the public sphere and the social-psychology of George H. Mead, engaging questions of personal and social identity, inclusion/exclusion, and gender. |
Extent | 16252348 bytes |
Subject |
Enlightenment Philsophy, German -- 18th century |
Genre |
Thesis/Dissertation |
Type |
Text |
FileFormat | application/pdf |
Language | eng |
Date Available | 2009-03-17 |
Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
IsShownAt | 10.14288/1.0087742 |
URI | http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6149 |
Degree |
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD |
Program |
History |
Affiliation |
Arts, Faculty of History, Department of |
Degree Grantor | University of British Columbia |
GraduationDate | 1996-11 |
Campus |
UBCV |
Scholarly Level | Graduate |
AggregatedSourceRepository | DSpace |
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